Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
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Social stratification
3
Characteristics of
stratification systems
4
Three basic models
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Class systems
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Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
How do stratification systems
look today?
In modern, industrialized societies, there is
little overt support for rigid systems of
inequality.
Remaining caste systems appear to be
transitioning into class systems.
From the time of World War II to the 1970s,
class boundaries appeared to soften, but they
have been hardening since the 1970s.
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Marx and class conflict
20
Key Ideas of Conflict
Theorists: Stratification
1. Theres no objective measure of a jobs importance. Sanitation
workers keep the rats away, which keep bubonic plague away.
2. Many bright and capable people have been squeezed out of
opportunities to compete for higher paying jobs.
3. The rewards we give to some professionals are way out of
proportion to their real contribution to the society.
4. What motivates people once basic needs are met? Pride at
work; independence on job; Input into organisation.
5. This great inequality leads to Hostility, Conflict. Maybe even
revolution.
Functionalist approaches
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Key Ideas of Functionalists:
Stratification
Functionalists: Society is made up of smoothly
functioning parts that all work for common good.
1. Some jobs are important and they require special
training.
2. Only a limited number of people have the ability to
acquire the skills for these jobs.
3. Learning these skills takes years of sacrifice.
4. Motivate people to do this by offering them power,
prestige and money = lifestyle
5. Therefore, social inequality is good for society. Its
Functional. Its Inevitable.
What is social class?
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Race and wealth
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Occupational prestige
Occupation Rank (1 = most prestigious; 16 = least
prestigious)
Accountant _________________________________
Cab driver _________________________________
Carpenter _________________________________
Classical musician _________________________________
Engineer _________________________________
Garbage collector _________________________________
Journalist _________________________________
Doctor _________________________________
Police officer _________________________________
Real estate agent _________________________________
Registered nurse _________________________________
Secretary _________________________________
Shoe shiner _________________________________
Social worker _________________________________
Sociologist _________________________________
Waiter or waitress _________________________________
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The rankings
1. Doctor
2. Engineer
3. Sociologist
4. Accountant
5. Nurses and other Doctors
6. Classical musician
7. Police officer
8. Journalist
9. Social worker
10. Secretary
11. Real estate agent
12. Carpenter
13. Cab driver
14. Waiter or waitress
15. Garbage collector
16. Shoe shiner
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The middle class
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Social mobility
29
Social Mobility
Poverty
31
Relative poverty: a level of poverty in which a
person lacks resources that other members of
her society has access to.
Absolute poverty: less than 1 $ per capita
income per day
This is a life-threatening level of poverty, a
situation in which a person faces the prospect of
hunger and disease on a daily basis
Poverty in the United States
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Why are the poor poor?
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Explanations for poverty
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Gender and poverty
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Poverty and social problems
Homelessness
Educational segregation
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SOME EXPERIMENTS
Paul Piff
30 Studies, 1000s of people, all over the U.S.
Rich people are more likely to break the law
while driving; help themselves with childrens
candy; and cheat in a game of chance.
Key Questions
Some facts:
World population is more than 6 billion
1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a
day they are in absolute poverty
** richest 20 percent of world population
receives 80 percent of world income
** poorest 20 percent of world population
receives 1 percent of global income!!!
Some Basic Terms